Audio Level Based Management of Communication Resources

1. A method of reducing resources used for communications, the method comprising: from a conference system, transferring at least one audio level criterion to a first user system in a communication session; at the conference system, when a level of first audio for the communication session satisfies the at least one audio level criterion at the first user system, receiving the first audio encoded using first audio codec parameters by the first user system; at the conference system, when the level of the first audio does not satisfy the at least one audio level criterion at the first user system, receiving the first audio encoded using second audio codec parameters by the first user system.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: at the conference system, when the level of the first audio satisfies the at least one audio level criterion at the first user system, receiving first video encoded using first video codec parameters by the first user system, wherein the first video comprises video corresponding to the first audio; at the conference system, when the level of the first audio does not satisfy the at least one audio level criterion at the first user system, receiving the first video encoded using second video codec parameters by the first user system.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first video encoded using the second video codec parameters uses less bandwidth to transfer than the first video encoded using the first video codec parameters.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first audio encoded using the second audio codec parameters uses less bandwidth to transfer than the first audio encoded using the first audio codec parameters.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second audio codec parameters comprise at least one parameter from a set including a lower frequency response than the first audio codec parameters, a lower target bitrate than the first audio codec parameters, no forward error correction, and a greater ptime than the first audio codec parameters.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one audio level criterion comprises a first threshold audio level and a second threshold audio level that is lower than the first threshold audio level, and the level of the first audio satisfies the at least one audio level criterion when the level of the first audio rises above the first threshold audio level and remains above the second threshold audio level.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: transferring the first audio to at least one other user system on the communication session.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: at the conference system, receiving an indication of the level of the first audio from the first user system; and determining the at least one audio level criterion based on the indication of the level of the first audio.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the level of the first audio comprises an audio power level difference between speech and background noise.

10. A conference system for reducing resources used for communications, the conference system comprising: one or more computer readable storage media; a processing system operatively coupled with the one or more computer readable storage media; and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that, when read and executed by the processing system, direct the processing system to: transfer at least one audio level criterion to a first user system in a communication session; when a level of first audio for the communication session satisfies the at least one audio level criterion at the first user system, receive the first audio encoded using first audio codec parameters by the first user system; when the level of the first audio does not satisfy the at least one audio level criterion at the first user system, receive the first audio encoded using second audio codec parameters by the first user system.

11. The conference system of claim 10 , wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to: when the level of the first audio satisfies the at least one audio level criterion at the first user system, receive first video encoded using first video codec parameters by the first user system, wherein the first video comprises video corresponding to the first audio; when the level of the first audio does not satisfy the at least one audio level criterion at the first user system, receive the first video encoded using second video codec parameters by the first user system.

12. The conference system of claim 11 , wherein the first video encoded using the second video codec parameters uses less bandwidth to transfer than the first video encoded using the first video codec parameters.

13. The conference system of claim 10 , wherein the first audio encoded using the second audio codec parameters uses less bandwidth to transfer than the first audio encoded using the first audio codec parameters.

14. The conference system of claim 13 , wherein the second audio codec parameters comprise at least one parameter from a set including a lower frequency response than the first audio codec parameters, a lower target bitrate than the first audio codec parameters, no forward error correction, and a greater ptime than the first audio codec parameters.

15. The conference system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one audio level criterion comprises a first threshold audio level and a second threshold audio level that is lower than the first threshold audio level, and the level of the first audio satisfies the at least one audio level criterion when the level of the first audio rises above the first threshold audio level and remains above the second threshold audio level.

16. The conference system of claim 10 , wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to: transfer the first audio to at least one other user system on the communication session.

17. The conference system of claim 10 , wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to: receive an indication of the level of the first audio from the first user system; and determine the at least one audio level criterion based on the indication of the level of the first audio.

18. The conference system of claim 10 , wherein the level of the first audio comprises an audio power level difference between speech and background noise.

19. A non-transitory computer readable media having program instructions stored thereon for operating a user system to reduce resources used for communications, the program instructions, when read and executed by the user system, direct the user system to: receive at least one audio level criterion from a conference system; capture first audio for a communication session; when a level of the first audio satisfies the at least one audio level criterion, encode the first audio using first audio codec parameters and transfer the first audio to the conference system; when the level of the first audio does not satisfy the at least one audio level criterion, encode the first audio using second audio codec parameters and transfer the first audio to the conference system.

20. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 19 , wherein the program instructions further direct the user system to: capture video for the communication session that corresponds to the first audio; when the level of the first audio satisfies the at least one audio level criterion, encode the video using first video codec parameters and transfer the video to the conference system; when the level of the first audio does not satisfy the at least one audio level criterion, encode the video using second video codec parameters and transfer the video to the conference system.